Combination padlock



Aug. .15, 1939.- g, M, SQREF ET AL- 2,169,907

COMBINATION PADLOCK Filed March 25, 1939 I 2 Shets-Sheet 1 zuxeima A522 mueZ/KJ O/"9K Patented Aug 15, 1939 UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE COIVIBINATION PADLOCK consin Application March -25, 1939, Serial No. 264,148

12 Claims. (01. -25) -This invention relates to locks, and particularly to permutation padlocks. One object'of the invention is to provide a padlock of simple and sturdy construction which shall be thoroughly reliable in operation and adapted for economical manufacture. Another object is to provide mechanism to be actuated for automatically upsetting or disarranging the tumbler permutation as an incident of the movement of the shackle. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to utilize the movement of the longer leg of the shackle for effecting the disarranging of the tumbler permutation, such movement being transmitted to one or more of the tumblers through the medium of intermediate means but without unduly complicating the mechanism. The invention consists in the elements and features of construction in combination, as hereinshown and described and as indicated by th claims.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a rear view of a permutation padlock embodying this invention, taken substantially as a section at the plane just inside of the back wall of the case to reveal the internal mechanism, and showing the shackle in locked condition.

Fig. 2 is a similar rear view (with an external portion of the shackle broken away) but showing the tumblers adjusted in shackle-releasing posi-- tion.

Fig. 3 is also a rear viewshowing the shackle partially withdrawn inthe initial portion of the unlocking movement. i

Fig. 4 is a rear view illustrating a further step in the unlocking movement of the shackle.

Fig. 5 is likewise an internal rear view of the mechanism showing the initial part of the closing movement in which the disarranging of the tumbler permutation is accomplished; in this view the shackle-locking lever is shown in section.

Fig.6 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially as indicated at line 66 on Fig.5 to clarify the relative arrangement of the parts in the casing. v

Fig. '7 is a detail view of a forked plate carried by the longer leg of the shackle.

Fig. 8 is a detail plan view of the intermediate member by which the shackle accomplishes the disarrangement of the tumblers.

Fig. 9 is an edge view of the member shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a face View similar to- Fig. 8 showing a modified form of the intermediate member for the same purpose.

Fig. 1 1 is a sectional view of said modified member, taken as indicated at line H|| on Fig. 10

and showing in dotted outline the relation of said member to the tumblers.

In the drawings, l5 designates a lock casing which may be of any suitable shape, but which is illustrated as of cylindrical form comprising a 5 front wall l6 and a back plate I! the front wall being integral with the cylindrical portion of the casing. The casing may be-enclosed in a cupshaped shell 18 preferably of light sheet metal which fits snugly over the casing, and includes a front cover plate l9 disposed against the front wall I6 of the casing. An; embossed rear cover plate 20 bears marginally against the back plate l1 and both said plates are secured in place by a flange 2| formed by spinning over the rear 15 edge of the shell l8. Preferably, the front wall I6 and the back plate I! are further secured together by riveted pins or posts 22 and 23 which may also serve to secure the front cover plate IQ of the shell against the front wall l6 of the casing.

A guide member 25 which may be formed as a sheet metal stamping, is rigidly mounted within the casing and includes a flat portion 26 disposed against the inner surface of the front wall 25 I6 and secured thereto by the riveted post 23. Bent up from one end of the member 25 is a flange 21 extending transversely between the front and rear plates l6 and I! and formed with a round opening 30 in which the shackle 3| is guided.

The legs of the U-shaped shackle 31 extend slidably through openings 32 formed in the cylindrical portions of the casing 15 and shell l8. The longer leg 3W of the shackle tatably in the opening 30 in the guide member 25 and the shorter leg 3| has a beveled end 33 and a locking notch 34 near this end. In the construction illustrated the shackle is free for rotation'about the axis of its longer leg when the shorter leg is withdrawn clear-of the shell l8, but this freedom for rotation is not essential to the purposes of the present invention. At its inner end the longer leg 3N of the shackle is formed with an annular groove 38 to receive a forked 45 plate 39 which is retained on the shackle leg by engagement of its straight edge 39 with the fiat inner surface of the back plate ll; this also prevents the plate 39 from rotating about the shackle within the casing, but allows it to travel with the shackle leg whenever the shackle is reciprocated in the casing. The plate 39 also serves to limit theoutward movement of the shackle by engaging the guide fiange 21 when the shackle is fully withdrawn.

fits slidably and ro- 35 A locking lever 4| is pivotally mounted on the post 22 and carries pocketed within it a springpressed latch member shown as a cylindrical plunger 42 slidable in a bore 43 in the locking lever 4| and at right angles to the axis of the post 22. The latch plunger has a beveled nose 44 engageable in the shackle notch 34 to resist withdrawal of the shackle when the parts are at locking position. A coiled spring 45 within the locking lever, urges the latch plunger outwardly While a notch or recess 46 on the side of the plunger adjacent the post 22 provides a stop shoulder engageable with the post, to limit the protrusion of the plunger, as clearly indicated in Fig. 5. An arcuate tongue or lip 41 on the looking lever 4| cooperates with the tumbler means, as hereinafter described.

The stud 48 is rigidly secured, as by riveting, to an embossed portion of the back plate H of the casing and projects forwardly through centrally apertured portions of the front wall |6 and the cover plate IS. The tapered front end of the stud 48, as seen in dotted outline in Fig. 6, fits loosely in the bore of an operating knob 50 which is rotatably mounted in the front wall IS. A dished dial plate is carried rigidly on the knob for rotation therewith, and, preferably, the front cover plate I9 of the shell is embossed with an annular bead 54 surrounding the dial. It may be understood that the bead 54 carries an index mark (not shown) and that the dial 5| carries suitable scale markings (not shown), as is customary in permutation locks of this general type.

A driving tumbler or disk 55 is concentrically and rigidly secured to the inner end of the knob adjacent the back plate I1.

and carries the usual transfer lug 56 for cooperation with the other tumblers. Additional tumblers or disks 51 and 58 are shown rotatably carried on the stud 48 with their transfer lugs 6|] projecting from adjacent faces for cooperative engagement in the usual manner. The tumblers are separated by washers 6| which are preferably formed to interengage with a key-way 62 in the stud 48 so that they are held against rotation and thus prevented from transmitting any rotative movement from one tumbler to the next. The entire assembly is subjected to limited friction by means of a compressed coil spring 63 surrounding the rear end portion of the stud 48 Each of the tumblers 55, 51 and 58 has a peripheral slot or notch 64 formed to admit the tongue 41 of the locking lever 4|, when these slots are registered with each other and with the tongue 41 by adjusting the knob 50 alternately in opposite directions and to successive predetermined positions, the tumblers being thus rotated by predetermined amounts and by interengagement of the lugs 56 and 60 in a well understood manner. Fig. 2 illustrates the tumblers as thus adjusted in registered position.

As soon as the tumblers have been thus registered with their notches 64 opposite the tongue 41 of the lever 4| the shackle can be pulled out;

the notch 34 in the shorter leg 3| of the shackle being interengaged with the end of the plunger 44 will rock the locking lever 4| into the position shown in Fig. 3, in which its tongue 41 is entered in the notches 64 of the tumblers.

Adjacent the rear tumbler 58, the stud 48 carries arotatable plate 10, and a notch 1| in this plate is engaged by a laterally projecting lug 39 of the forked plate 39 which is carried by the longer leg 3 I of the shackle. Thus, as the shackle is withdrawn, the plate 1|] is rotated. Instead of being circular like the tumblers the plate 16 has a portion cut away at one side, leaving a straight edge 12 which extends along a chord of the circular outline of the tumblers, but far enough inward to provide clearance for the tongue 41 of the locking lever 4| when the latter enters the tumbler notches, as seen in Fig. 3. As the shackle is pulled farther out and the plate continues to be rotated by the lug 39 this straight edge 12 acts as a cam to engage the tongue 41 and forces it out of the tumbler notches, as shown in Fig. 4. Upon completion of the outward movement of the shackle its shorter leg 3| is shifted clear of the casing, so that the shackle may be turned freely about the axis of its longer leg 3|, and, at the same time, the tongue 41 is wholly removed from the tumbler notches. Since this is accomplished by rocking the locking lever 4| about its pivot 22 said lever is thus returned to its normal locking position, ready to receive the shackle when it is thrust back into the cas- Upon such return movement of the shackle the lug 39 engaging the notch 1| of the plate 16 rotates the plate in reverse direction, and the plate, in turn, engages the adjacent tumbler 58 for shifting its notch 64 out of registration with the tongue 41 of the locking lever, thus upsetting the permutation of the tumblers. And since the tumbler 58 being the last of the series, can only be reset through the agency of the other tumblers which must then be reset, in turn, for registering their notches with the tongue 41 as al-- ready described, the upsetting of the tumbler 58 insures that the combination must be entirely reset before the lock can again be opened.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 to 9, the plate 16 is provided with a plurality of inclined projections or teeth 13 and the tumbler 58 has a transfer lug 60 projecting from its face adjacent the plate 10 so that as the plate is rotated in the closing movement of the shackle one of its teeth or projections 13 encounters and engages the transfer lug 60 so as to cause the tumbler to rotate with the plate 10 for displacing the tumbler notch 64 from its registered position. The provision of several teeth 13 is desirable, since the transfer lug 60 will be variously located on the tumbler disk in different locks having different combinations. Only one of the teeth will actually function in any given lock for engagement with the transfer lug.

To insure that the notch 1| of, the plate 10 shall remain in position to be re-engaged by the lug 39 when the lock is again opened, the plate 10 is formed with a radially extending portion which provides a stop shoulder ,14 engageable with an opposing shoulder 4 I of the locking lever 4| as seen in Fig.1. This prevents further rotation of the plate in counter-clockwise direction while the shackle remains closed; rotation in clockwise direction is prevented by the relation of the flaring side 1W of the notch 1| to the lug 39 as seen in Fig. 1. When the lock is fully opened a shoulder on the plate 16 encounters the post 23 and thus prevents the notch 1| from being shifted out of range of the lug 39 This blocking of rotation of the plate 10 does not interfere with rotation of the tumblers, and particularly the tumbler 58 since the teeth or projections 13 are inclined at both sides, and the plate 10 is urged yieldingly towardthe tumbler disk 58 by the spring 63. Thus the yielding of the spring permits thetransfer lug 66 to cam and a member rotatable co-axially with said itself past the inclined teeth 13 if necessary, when the tumbler is being shifted into position for registering its notch 64 with the other tumbler notches in accordance with the predetermined combination for opening the lock. The spring 63 is sufficiently stifi, however, to insure a driving engagement between the tooth 13' and the lug 60 when the plate 18 is rotated in the closing movement of the shackle for upsetting the tumbler 58.

Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate a modified form of plate 88 which is designed to replace the plate 10 and which engages frictionally instead of positively with the tumbler 58. This plate is formed with a notch Bl for interengagement with the lug 39 of the plate carried on the longer shackle leg Fl andits straight edge 82 performs the same function as the edge 12 of the plate 10 in ca-mming the tongue 4'! out. of the tumbler notches. The plate includes a concentric extension 83 which is offset from the principal portion of the plate so as to provide an inclined shoulder 84 dimensioned to fit against the circular edge of the tumbler disk 58 for frictional engagement therewith. With this. construction the tumbler disk is preferably made without a transfer lug 60 projecting toward the plate 88 and there is no positive engagement between the parts. However, the-frictional engagement of the plate 88 with the disk 58 is induced by pressure of the spring 63 and is efiective throughout the full range of rotation of the plate 88 which is caused by the closing movement of the shackle. For this reason, in most-cases the notch 64 of the tumbler disk will be shifted a little farther by the frictionally engaging plate 88 than by the more positive engagement with the tooth 13 of the plate '10.

It will be evident that, if desired, the extension 83 of the plate 89 need not be offset, but may be left in the same plane as the principal portion of the plate, in which event the'frictional contact between the face of the plate 89 and the face, of the disk 58 will serve for shifting the tumbler. However, this is not alwaysreliable, particularly if one of the two elementsshouldbe slightly convex, so that only a small portion of its area could bear "frictionally upon the other disk.- Therefore, we prefer the dished formation of the plate 88 as shown in Figs. 10 and 11.

While there is shown and. described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and re-arrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the same is not limited to the particular form herein shown and described, except in so far as indicated by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A padlock comprising a case having openings, a shackle having legs slidable in said openings, one of said legs being longer than the other, shackle-locking means in said case including a rotatable tumbler movable to release said shackle, and means, rotatable co-axially With said tumbler and yieldably engageable therewith, actuated by the long leg of the shackle in its locking movement to turn. said tumbler out of shacklereleasing position.

2. A padlock comprising a case having openings, a shackle having legs slidable in said openings, one of said legs being longer than the other, shackle-locking means in said case including a rotatable tumbler movable to release said shackle,

tumbler, and so rotated by the long leg of the shackle in its locking movement, together with yielding means urging said member axially into engagement with said tumbler for turning the tumbler out of shackle-releasing position when the member is so rotated.

3. A padlock comprising a case having openings, a shackle having legs slidable in said openings, one of said legs being longer than the other, shackle-locking means in said case including a rotatable tumbler movable to release said shackle, a member rotatable co-axially with said tumbler, and means extending laterally from the longer leg of the shackle and inter-engaging with said member for causing the member to turn when the shackle is moved slidably in the case, stop means for limiting the angle of rotation of said member to keep it within range of engagement by said means on the shackle, and yielding means urging said member axially into engagement with the tumbler whereby its rotation in one direction serves for turning the tumbler cut of shacklereleasing position.

4. A padlock comprising a case having openings, a shackle having legs slidable in said openings, one of said legs being longer than the other, a shackle-locking member in said case formed to engage the shorter leg of the shackle for looking it, a plurality of tumbler disks coaxially disposed and having alignable notches to receive a portion of the locking member to permit moving the latter to shackle-releasing position, and a member rotatable co-axially with said tumblers and so rotated by the long leg of the shackle when the latter is moved slidably in the case, said member including a cam adapted to shift the locking member out of the tumbler notches when the member is rotated by the unlocking movement of the shackle and said member being engageable with at least one of the tumblers for turning it out of shackle-releasing position when the member is rotated by the shackle in its locking movement. 5. In a permutation. look, a lockingmember, a plurality of tumbler disks co-axially disposed and having alignable notches, a shiftably mounted member normally blocking unlocking movement of said locking member except when the notches of the tumblers are adjusted to register with a portion of said shiftable member for permitting such movement, means for adjusting the tumblers-in registered 'relation,and means actuated by the movement of the locking member in frictional driving relation to at least one of the tumblers for shifting it out of registered position when said locking member moves to locking position.

6. In a permutation lock, a locking member, a plurality of tumbler disks having alignable notches, a shiftably mounted member engageable with the locking member for retaining it in looking position and movable to release said locking member when the notches of the tumblers are adjusted in registration to receive a portion of said shiftable member, and a member rotatable coaxially with said tumblers by engagement with the locking member, said rotatable member having a cam portion formed to eject the shiftable member from the tumbler notches when rotated by the unlocking movement of the locking member and being engageable with at least one of the tumblers for turning its notch out of registered position when said rotatable member is turned reversely by the locking movement of the locking member.

7. In a permutation lock including a case with an opening and a locking member movable therethrough, a shiftably mounted member engageable with the locking member to hold it at locking position, a plurality of co-axially mounted rotatable tumbler disks having alignable notches to receive a portion of said shiftable member when the latter is moved to release the locking member, and means including a plate rotatable co-axially with said tumblers and adjacent one of them, the adjacent faces of said tumbler and plate having mutually engageable projections whereby rotation of the plate serves to rotate the tumbler for shifting its notch out of adjusted position, and means by which the plate is interengaged with the locking member for such rotation when the locking member moves to locking position.

8. A padlock comprising a case having openings, a shackle having legs slidable in said openings, one of said legs being longer than the other, shackle-locking means in said, case including a rotatable tumbler movable to release said shackle, and a plate rotatable co-axially with said tumbler and so rotated by the long leg of the shackle in its locking movement, the adjacent faces of said plate and tumbler having mutually engageable projections whereby said rotation of the plate turns the tumbler out of shackle-releasing position, such engagement of the plate and tumbler being maintained by yielding means urging the plate axially toward the tumbler, and one of said said projections being inclined to permit forcing the other past it when the tumbler is rotated independently of the plate in adjusting it to shackle-releasing position.

9. A padlock comprising a case having openings, a shackle having legs slidable in said openings, one of said legs being longer than the other, shackle-locking means in said case including a rotatable tumbler movable to release said shackle, and a plate rotatable co-axially with said tumbler and so rotated by the long leg of the shackle in its locking movement, together with yielding means urging said plate axially into frictional engagement with said tumbler for turning the tumbler out of shackle-releasing position when the plate is so rotated.

10. A padlock comprising a case having openings, a shackle having legs slidable in said openings, one of said legs being longer than the other,

shackle-locking means in said case including a rotatable tumbler movable to release said shackle, and a member rotatable co-axially with said tumbler, the tumbler being circular in outline and said member having a concentric sloping shoulder positioned to engage the circular edge of the tumbler, together with spring means urging said member axially into such engagement with the tumbler, and means on the long leg of the shackle engaging the member for turning it and thus turning the tumbler out of shackle-releasing position when the shackle is moved to locking position.

11. In a permutation padlock comprising a case having openings, a shackle having legs slidable in said openings, one of said legs being longer than the other, the shorter leg having a notch, shackle-locking means in said case including a shiftably mounted member engageable with the shackle notch for locking the shackle, a rotatable tumbler having a notch into which said shiftable member is movable to disengage the shackle notch and release the shackle, means rotatable co-axially with said tumbler and actuated by the sliding movement of the long leg of the shackle in the casing, said means including a cam formed to eject said shiftable member from the notch of the tumbler and return said shiftable member to locking position in the unlocking movement of the shackle, and means to engage the tumbler for turning its notch out of shackle-releasing position when said rotatable means is rotated reversely by the locking movement of the shackle, said shiftable member including a yielding portion depressible by the shorter leg of the shackle and engageable in the notch thereof when the shackle is moved to locking position.

12. In a permutation lock, a locking member, a shiftably mounted member normally blocking unlocking movement of said locking member, locking means in the case including a rotatable tumbler adjustable to release the shiftable member, and a plate rotatable co-axially with said tumbler and so rotated by the locking member in its locking movement, together with yielding means urging said plate axially into frictional engagement with said tumbler for turning the tumbler out of shackle-releasing positionv when =the plate is rotated,

SAMUEL M. SOREF. JAMES KEITH MARSHALL. 

